Small Fruits & Edibles for 2023

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We kick off spring with a big batch of bare-root small fruits and edibles. Stop in soon to embellish your food garden!

Crimson Night Everbearing Raspberry

This variety offers prolific, flavorful dark red-purple berries and great disease resistance. Introduced by Cornell University in 2012, Crimson Night is very ornamental, with dark purple canes – try it in a container! It will produce two heavy crops of berries. New canes (Primocanes) will produce berries that ripen in late summer through early fall. Don’t cut back previous years canes (Floricanes) – they will produce berries that ripen in mid-summer. Self-pollinating.

Honey Queen Everbearing Raspberry

Honey Queen lives up to its name with its deliciously sweet honey flavor packed into beautiful yellow, soft, and medium-sized berries perfect for picking and eating in the summer. It was developed in Rocky Mountain House by Robert Erskine and is very winter hardy. Canes are yellowish, floricane, arched and moderately spiny – and need trellising. Self-pollinating.

Nova Elderberry

Grow an edible landscape with this easy-care shrub. Wide clusters of creamy white flowers appear in spring. If left on the bush, the flowers develop into bountiful bunches of tender, deep purple berries used in jams, jellies, pies, and wines. Elderberry syrup is said to stimulate the immune system. Native to North America and great for attracting wildlife. Bees and hummingbirds will drink the flower nectar, and a variety of birds will eat the berries. Fruit set will be best if cross pollinated by another Sambucus canadensis variety such as ‘York’.

York Elderberry

Enjoy lots of juicy berries on this manageable 6’-8’ tall shrub. In early summer, the vigorous plants are covered with gorgeous tiny white flowers that produce large clusters of small purple-black berries in late summer. The nutritious berries have high anthocyanin content and are excellent made into jams, jellies, juices, and cordials. Fruit set will be best if cross pollinated by another Sambucus canadensis variety such as ‘Nova’. Zones 3-8.

Crandall Black Currant

The Crandall black currant is the most ornamental and sweetest of all currant varieties. Grown for beauty and fruit, the Crandall’s clove-scented, trumpet-shaped flowers bloom in spring. Enjoy fruit fresh or use in your favorite recipes. Ripens mid-summer. Very fast growing and attracts butterflies.  Self pollinating but better with another variety (such as Pink Champagne!).

Pink Champagne Currant

Medium-sized currants are a fascinating translucent pink and have a wonderful flavor that is less tart than red currants and more delicate than black currants! These delicious fruits ripen in late September and are perfect for fresh eating, baking, jellies, and preserves. Grow 3 to 5 feet tall and are resistant to mildew and rust. Self-pollinating but better with another variety (such as Crandall!).

Crimson Cherry Rhubarb

One of the best flavored rhubarb varieties on the market, Crimson Red Rhubarb’s stalks have that perfect balance of sweetness and tartness. The plants product ample yields of pleasingly plump, crimson stalks that add excellent flavor and color to pies, cobblers, preserves and other recipes. Rhubarb is a perennial vegetable that performs best when planted in full sun to partial shade and in well-drained soil. Stalks should not be harvested the first season after planting. 

Mary Washington Asparagus

This variety offers buttery and robust flavor, thick straight stalks, and later emerging fern-like foliage.

Sweet Purple Asparagus

In addition to the fun coloration, the flavor is said to be distinctly sweeter than green asparagus. This variety is less prone to developing fibrous strings and woody stalks.

Horseradish

Add the peppery leaves to soups and salads for an invigorating flavor or wait to harvest the roots in the fall. Plant 6” deep. Plants can spread; consider growing in a large pot or barrel.

Nuts for Whidbey Island 2023

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Nuts are an investment in the long term. Trees need time to mature before they will reliably produce mature fruit. It is important to protect the harvest from squirrels and birds.

Hazelnuts (Corylus):

Plant in very moist, fertile, well-drained soil for best results. A full-sun to part-shade site should be chosen for optimal results. Choose two varieties for pollination.

Jefferson

Thought to be the best all-around hazelnut variety for commercial or home growers in the USA.  Extreme disease resistance; immune to Filbert Blight. Produces heavy yields of large nuts that consistently fill out their shells. An Oregon State University introduction. Pollinated by Theta.

Theta

Bigger than other varieties with delicious buttery flavor that is perfect for both savory and sweet recipes. Exhibits good resistance to pests and exceptional resistance to Eastern Filbert Blight. Recent blight resistant release from OSU. Late pollinator for Jefferson Hazelnut. Small to medium sized nuts.

York

York produces medium-sized, round nuts good for eating or for making paste. It is a mid-season pollinizer with a long bloom season, compatible with most cultivars, including Theta, Jefferson and Yamhill. It is highly resistant to Eastern Filbert Blight, bud mite, and has a low incidence of kernel mold. and produces round medium-sized nuts.

Walnuts:

Cascade

Manregian x Russian. Thin shell, excellent buttery flavor firm, plump, light colored kernels. Fast growing, large tree. Self-fertile but much better with a pollinizer (different variety).

Peaches, Apricot, Nectarines & Combo 2023

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*All of these fruit trees are grown on semi-dwarf rootstock in order to accommodate most home orchards, unless otherwise noted.*

Frost Peach

The best peach for Northwest gardens. Red blushed over yellow peaches are great fresh or for canning. A freestone variety that produces very heavily. The tree is very productive and vigorous. Thinning the tree or the fruit will produce larger, better quality peaches. The tree is self-fertile and has pretty pink flowers in late winter. Plant in full sun with good drainage. Resistant to peach leaf curl, especially as the tree becomes more established.

Galaxy Peach (dwarf)

These donut shaped peaches have intense, sweet flavor, white flesh and a semi-cling pit which have been popular in China for centuries. Can produce up to 50lbs of fruit a year once mature! These self-fertile trees are on a dwarf root stock, making them great for home orchards and easy picking. Best in full sun with good drainage.

Puget Gold Apricot

This is inarguably the most consistent fruit producing apricot variety. Produces medium size fruit with firm flesh that is delectably sweet. Ripens in mid-August and is self-fertile! This tree naturally protects its delicate blossoms from harsh conditions by blooming late.

Harglow Apricot

This variety has proven itself in our Northwest climate. It is late blooming and early ripening (August) and produces a medium to large apricot that is deep orange with a delightful blush of red. It is a flavorful fruit, sweet and firm. Harglow is self-fertile and is also resistant to perennial canker, brown rot, and resists cracking!

Hardy Red Nectarine

A new promising variety for the Northwest. Fruit is red skinned with golden blush. The very sweet, yellow flesh that ripens in mid-August. Hardy Red is a freestone nectarine and has excellent flavor.

Combos:

These fruit trees have several different kinds of fruit grafted to one root stock:

Fruit Cocktail (4-way Combo): Frost Peach, Puget Gold Apricot, Hardy Red Nectarine, Italian Prune and Lapin or Stella Cherry

Fruiting Plums for Whidbey Island 2023

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*All of these plum trees are grown on semi-dwarf rootstock in order to accommodate most home orchards.*

European Plums:

Green Gage

This is a historic plum variety dating back to France in the 1600s.  In France, this plum is called “Reine Claude”.   The small rounded yellow-green fruits are not pretty, but many say they have the best flavor of any plum. Juicy and firm, with a sweet, melt in your mouth flavor. Excellent fresh, or for baking, preserves and canning. Self-fertile but may produce better with a different European plum nearby. Ripens in late August.

Imperial Epineuse

Considered one of the most delicious plums you can grow, this plum has grown famous for its sweet, flavorful fruit. This French variety has a reddish-purple skin and yellow flesh. The large fruit is excellent for either fresh eating or drying. Once mature, the tree is a heavy producer, often yielding over 50lbs of fruit in a season. Considered self-fertile, but will produce better with a pollinizer. A WSU Mt. Vernon recommended variety.

Italian Prune

Perhaps the most widely planted and beloved fruit tree in history. Deep purple oblong freestone fruits with tasty yellow flesh. Great fresh off the tree, or for drying, canning and cooking. Flesh turns a nice red color when cooked. Ripens in August. Self-fertile but better with another European plum nearby. Can take a few years to start producing.  A WSU Mt Vernon recommended variety.

Yellow Egg

Also known as ‘Pershore’, this a large egg-shaped European plum. A heavy yielder.  Its skin is bright yellow in color and its flesh is soft and sweet. This heavy producer is mostly used for baking or making jams and jellies but can be eaten fresh if properly ripened. It blooms in late March and ripens in August.

Japanese Plums:

Beauty

A Santa Rosa type plum well suited to Western Washington. Red and yellow skin with amber-red flesh. Sweet and juicy with a delicious flavor that melts in your mouth. Some say the most flavorful Japanese plum. Excellent for fresh eating. Vigorous and productive. Ripens in early August.  Said to be self-fertile but would produce heavier with Methley plums nearby. A WSU Mt. Vernon recommended variety.

Methley

A hybrid plum generally listed with Japanese varieties. Beautiful purplish-red plums have amber red flesh and are sweet and juicy. A heavy producer and vigorous grower. Early blooming white flowers are sweetly fragrant. Ripens in July. Best eaten fresh or makes a good jelly. Commonly found in stores and farmers markets during plum season. Well suited to Whidbey Island gardens. Great pollinator for Beauty plums. Said to be self-fertile but would produce heavier with a Shiro or Beauty around. A WSU Mt. Vernon recommended variety.

Shiro

These plums are quite popular with American gardeners and the trees are long lived and very prolific.  Its large round yellow fruit is mild, sweet, and wonderfully juicy! With its fast production you’ll have plenty of fruit for eating, cooking, canning, baking desserts. Ripens in early August.

Need to know which trees pollinize which? Check out these Pollination Charts from Biringer Nursery.

Fruiting Cherries for Whidbey Island

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**All our fruiting cherries are grown on dwarf rootstock to make them easier for bird netting and access to the fruit. Sour cherries (Prunus cerasus) are said to be self-fertile, but sweet cherries (Prunus avium) need a second sweet variety as a pollinator. Since sour and sweet are different species they do not pollinate each other.**

Sweet Cherries:

Angela

Has large, sweet, black fruit that resists cracking and disease. Angela ripens like Bing in mid-season. A self-pollinating tree but will perform better with another pollinator.

Bing

The most popular sweet cherry on the American market, Bing cherries produce large, dark smooth skinned fruit in mid-June to early July. The fruit is firm and extremely juicy and very sweet. Great for fresh eating, baking or preserves. One tree can be a heavy producer, with mature specimens producing 50-100 lbs of fruit in one year. The Bing Cherry will need a pollinator, such as Lapin or Sam, to produce fruit. A WSU Mt. Vernon recommended variety.

Lapin

An outstanding sweet dark cherry for Northwest gardens. The cherries are very large and crack resistant. The fruit is sweet and juicy, making it perfect for fresh eating or baking. The tree is disease resistant and very productive. An excellent substitute for Bing, which can crack in Western Washington. Self-fertile. Ripens in summer.  A WSU Mt. Vernon recommended variety.

Rainier

An outstanding sweet cherry tree that produces delicious, large, fruit that are yellow with pink blush. Ripens before Bing, and larger than Royal Ann. This tree is a good pollinizer and is an easy to grow, low maintenance variety.

Sam

Considered a ‘black sweet’ cherry the fruit is dark red in color. Its flavor is similar to ‘Bing’ but a little tarter. Heavy producer and hardy to negative 20 degrees, it makes a great choice for home orchards. An excellent choice for the Pacific Northwest because of its resistance to cracking. Bing is a recommended pollinizer.

Vandalay

A large, sweet black cherry well suited to Northwest gardens. Very deep, wine-colored black cherries have firm red flesh and excellent flavor. Great eaten fresh. The cherries are crack-resistant and the tree is very productive. A disease resistant variety. Ripens in summer. Self-fertile. A WSU Mt. Vernon recommended variety.

Sweet Cherry 4-way Dwarf Combo

(4 of these 5 varieties grafted together) Bing, Rainier, Lapin, Glacier, Van, Royal Ann

Sour/Pie Cherries:

Montmorency

This variety has been cultivated in this country since the early 20th century. It is the most popular sour cherry in America. It produces a large, light red fruit for baking, drying and juicing.

Morello

This old variant fruit has deep crimson flesh that is tart and aromatic. The fruit’s wine-red juice is abundant and perfect for cooking and pie making. Ripens in August.

Surefire

Is so highly regarded it is considered the “first sour cherry.” This bright red fruit has high sugar content making it perfect for eating fresh or for making pies. Late blooming, late-flowering, crack resistant.

Need to know which trees pollinize which? Check out these Pollination Charts from Biringer Nursery.

Winter Interest in the Garden

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Late fall and winter bring an excellent opportunity for us to examine our gardens with fresh eyes. Without the distraction of spring and summer flowers, we can clearly see if our plantings provide enough color and interest in the “naked” season. We can also evaluate where we might need more structure.

If you find your garden is lacking in structure, color, or even texture at this time of year, the solution is often found with evergreen plants. Sometimes the word “evergreen” makes people think only of Cedar, Pine and Fir trees. But this group of plants is much more vast than that! Since many of us gardening in the Pacific NW are surrounded by an ample supply of green, for this post I am going to think outside of that tone! From conifers to broadleaved evergreens to grasses, perennials and groundcovers, we can find plants for year round interest in the garden. Here are some of my favorites.

Larger plants for color & structure

Arizona Cypress: Cupressus ‘Sulphurea’ or ‘Carolina Sapphire’

Japanese Cedar: Cryptomeria ‘Sekkan Sugi’ and C. japonica ‘Elegans’

Spruce: Picea ‘Glauca Slenderina’, ‘Gold Drift’ and ‘Skylands’

“Cool Bones” – Interesting Bark or Form

Black Gum: Nyssa sylvatica ‘Zydeco Twist’

Stewartia pseudocamellia, S. monadelpha

Birch: Betula ‘Jacquemontii’ or B. nigra ‘Heritage’

Vine Maple: Acer circinatum ‘Sunny Sister’

Corokia cotoneaster

Weeping Lawson Cypress: Chamaecyparis l. ‘Imbric Weeping’

Medium shrubs for winter interest

Euonymus ‘Silver King’, ‘Silver Queen’,

Elaeagnus ‘Gilt Edge’, ‘Hosobu Fukurin’

Buckthorn: Rhamnus a. ‘Variegata’

Osmanthus ‘Goshiki’, ‘Party Lights’

Hemlock: Tsuga ‘Gentsch White’ or ‘Summer Snow’

Fatsia ‘Spider’s Web’

Low shrubs for winter color

Leucothoe ‘Rainbow’

Juniperus ‘Daub’s Frosted’ or ‘Blue Star’

Euonymus ‘Dan’s Delight’ or ‘Blondy’

Evergreen perennials and subshrubs

Lavender

Hellebore, esp. ‘Snow Fever’ or Frostkiss Series

Hebes

Evergreen grasses for winter texture

Carex: any of them!

Fescue: Festuca ‘Bolder Blue’ or ‘Elijah’

Blue Oat

Black Mondo Grass: Ophiopogon p. ‘Nigrescens’

What?! Winter FLOWERS??

Viburnum b. ‘Dawn’

Hellebore

Witch Hazel: Hamamelis ‘Jelena’, ‘Diane’, etc.

Osmanthus burkwoodii

Elaeagnus – any

Camellia sasanqua types, such as ‘Setsugekka’

Need to see some of these plants with your own eyes? Watch Tobey’s video – Plants for Winter Interest!

Top 10 Roses for 2022

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Top 10 Roses for disease-resistance, fragrance, and repeat blooming

Even though I am nuts about Roses, I am also discerning. When choosing which cultivars we carry, I select based on disease-resistance, fragrance, and repeat flowering. I exclude any variety with low scores in those categories. I also favor Roses that are good for cut flowers. We have a lot of choices for 2022, and you can’t really go wrong with any of the varieties that we stock  Since I am just bananas about Roses it is really hard for me to pick only 10 to name as my favorites. I will confess: I am making a whole new garden bed so I have room for this year’s irresistables!

Brandy

Since I grow Roses for flower arranging, I cannot resist this old favorite. I love the rich apricot color that works so well with many color schemes, and the stem length makes it easy to use these fragrant flowers. This AARS winner performs best once established and has good disease resistance.  It is a large plant (4’ – 6’ tall and 2’ – 3’ wide) with large blooms.

Colette (Climbing)

This climber gives us the best of the old-world looks – full and fluffy – with modern (excellent!) disease resistance and performance. Her blooms of pinkish-peach have an intoxicating citrus scent – just heavenly! Give this one some room; she grows 8’ – 10’ tall with a spreading habit.

Dee Lish

This Rose has won multiple awards for disease resistance, so that always puts a plant on my short list. But even more – the pink blooms are packed with petals and hold their strong color. The fragrance is outstanding, and you’ll be thrilled to know it is a great cut flower too! This is a big, very upright hybrid tea that can grow up to 6’ tall.

Earth Angel Parfuma

If you can’t get enough of Peonies then you will love this Rose! The blooms are voluptuous and a most romantic shade of blush pink with a classic Rose fragrance. It offers award-winning disease resistance and has outstanding vigor. This one will earn her keep in your garden! Though a hybrid tea, this plant is fairly bushy and can grow 5’ tall and 4’ wide.

Fiji Eleganza

This is a robust hybrid tea rose with multiple blooms of a vivid cherry pink. You’ll pick this bloom when you are looking for some va-voom in your life!! It is an easy-care plant with outstanding disease resistance, strong stems, and is a reliable repeat-bloomer. You don’t need a load of room for this 4’ x 3’ grower.

Florentina Arborose

This is a compact climber (7’ by 3’), a modern plant with a strong sense of nostalgia with clusters of classic red blooms. It has award winning disease resistance and is a repeat bloomer. The lush green foliage will be an asset in the garden!

Intrigue

This big bushy rose (5’ by 30”) will intrigue your eyes with its captivating, unique shade of mauve-plum, and your nose with its strong citrusy-rosy fragrance.  It is an AARS winner with good disease resistance which means that the foliage should stick around and be an attractive feature on this plant.

Moonlight Romantica

If you love yellow, then this big bushy rose will be an asset in your garden. It offers fragrant, fluffy butter-yellow blooms that have a sweet, honey-like fragrance. Excellent disease resistance and repeat bloom.  4’ – 6’ tall by 3’ – 4’ wide.

Tequila Supreme

Don’t think less of this Rose just because it sounds like a cocktail that would be served at Taco Bell! This excellent variety is not only an AARS winner but it won the American Rose Trials for Sustainability. This means it is a disease-resistant, easy-care plant! What’s more is the blooms are showstoppers. The ruffled, scalloped blooms are so intriguing and the color is a juicy blend of copper, apricot, pink and orange. And of course, it is a repeat bloomer.

White Eden Climber

This vigorous, disease-resistant large climber (8’ – 12’) will pump out creamy, buff white blooms throughout the summer. Sometimes, especially in cooler weather, those flowers can be tinged with pink. It offers a light fragrance. This is a classic cottage garden Rose.

We’ve have more great posts to help you grow the best roses ever: How To Plant A Bare Root Rose and How To Have Success with Roses Happy gardening!

Conifers for Whidbey Island Gardens

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Gardening on Whidbey Island can sometimes be tricky! We are not without our host of challenges: wind, deer, rabbits, and poor soil are just a few of the obstacles many gardeners face. Tough conditions require tough plants, and frequently a Conifer is the answer!

Conifers are cone-bearing plants. They are typically (but not always!) evergreen. Their foliage offers great texture, and many offer excellent color as well as year-round interest for the garden. Many of us are familiar with Firs, Hemlock, and Cedar. Since they are native to our area, they are common and well adapted to many Island gardens. But there are many other types of Conifers that offer interesting and alternative choices. From low-growing groundcovers to shrubs to towering trees, here are a few of my favorites.

Pine (Pinus)

These plants offer great choices for a beachside garden. If you garden with wind, strong sun, and droughty sandy soils, you might want to consider a Pine. They are also deer- and rabbit-resistant. (A clear bonus!) A Mugo Pine is a great choice for a shrubby shape. A striking and strong Japanese Black Pine is great if you’d like a real centerpiece – maybe P. thunbergiana ‘Thunderhead’.  If blue is a color you love in your garden, you might like a ‘Vanderwolf’s Pyramid’ Limber Pine for a soft blue backdrop, with a Pinus parviflora glauca as a specimen. Of course, there are lots of others to choose from, but these are my favorite Pines.

Juniper (Juniperus)

As a young city gardener, I discounted Junipers. I thought of them just as scratchy things that smelled like the cat box. After over 14 years gardening on Whidbey, I have come to appreciate this genus. Deer and rabbits leave them alone. They take wind, drought, and terrible soil without missing a beat – they actually seem to thrive on neglect! I have several Juniper varieties in my garden. I use Wichita Blue and Moonglow for their strong columnar structure, and I love my ‘Grey Owl’ for its horizontal shape and excellent steely blue color. ‘Daub’s Frosted’ is the next one I will plant – the two-toned gold and blue foliage makes it a stunning low groundcover.

Cypress & False Cypress (Chamaecyparis) & Japanese Cedar (Cryptomeria)

If you have a hard time loving Conifers because you think they are scratchy and needle-y, then take a look at the plants in this genus. There are many “pet-able” plant pals to meet! This is also a great group for foliage color! From Cryptomeria japonica ‘Spiralis’, a rounded shrub also known as “Granny’s Ringlets” for its lime-green, curly lock-like foliage, to Chamaecyparis ‘Blue Feathers’ or ‘Heatherbun’ with their soft bluish foliage. For a pop of yellow, look to Chamaecyparis p. ‘Filifera Mops’, the Golden Threadleaf Cypress. For a rich deep green with creamy tips, consider Cham. ‘Mariesii’. Note that while the Cryptomeria genus is still drought-tolerant, some prefer a bit more water, especially to get established, than the Pines and Junipers do. For example, Chamaecyparis nootkatensis ‘Pendula’ loves moist soil. This is a gorgeous, quick-growing tree that works well as either a specimen or in the back of a border.

Hemlock (Tsuga)

Since Hemlocks are native to the Northwest, they grow well in Whidbey Island gardens. One of my favorites is ‘Gentsch White’, whose new growth offers white tips. This plant can be sheared into a shrub-like shape or left to grow into a tree form. My other favorite Hemlock is ‘Jeddeloh’, with its low-growing, mounding shape.

For those of you who are looking for a quick-growing screen, consider Thuja ‘Green Giant’. This is a great alternative to our much wider-growing Western Red Cedar. ‘Green Giant’ Arborvitae grows quickly to 50’ but only gets 12’ wide. 

The most important things to keep in mind when working with Conifers are these:

  • Even if they are drought-tolerant, they will need water to get established. Do hand water deeply for the first 3 years.
  • While deer may not like to eat these plants, they may still want to rub their antlers on them to remove the velvet and leave their scent to attract mates. It is wise to protect your trees with wire mesh, plastic netting, or some sort of wire or monofilament surround to deter them from doing this until your trees are strong enough not to fall over, and they are thick enough that a few missing branches or scarred bark won’t be an issue.
  • Do consider the ultimate size of these plants when you are placing them. Remember that a giant just might be lurking in that little pot. Give them the room they need to flourish and become beautiful specimens in your garden.

Want a fun piece of plant-dork trivia? A Ginkgo is a Conifer! Now isn’t that a surprise?

Remember, if you need help choosing a conifer for your garden or siting one, our Venture Out garden coaching and design service is just a phone call (360-321-9931) or email (contact@ventureoutnursery.com) away!

Heat and Sun Damaged Plant Care

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Is my sunburned plant dead?

The recent heat wave fried a lot of gardeners and a lot of plants too!  Just because a plant’s leaves are scorched does not mean the plant is dead. 

There are two ways plants can be damaged by the intense heat and strong sun.  To understand what happens to plants in extreme sunlight and heat, consider what happens to humans.  Strong sun makes us thirsty and we get sunburned.  It is the same with plants! 

CAUSES OF SUN STRESS ON PLANTS

Plants need water to live.  Roots take water from the soil, and it is drawn up through the plant to the foliage.  If the hot sun dries out the soil, and there is no water for the plant to take up, the leaves will wilt.  If the situation persists the leaf tissue, and then the stem tissue, will be damaged.  It will eventually turn a crunchy brown. 

Just like strong sunshine fries your skin tissues with the UV rays, plant leaf cells can be damaged by UV light – especially when there is a sudden change in the intensity of light (like because of a massive heat wave, or when you move a plant from shade to sun).  This damage doesn’t necessarily correlate to moisture availability; even plants with adequate water can have scalded leaves.  Intense UV can even scald the bark (and along with it the vascular tissue that lies just underneath) of thin-skinned trees such as Japanese Maples.  This can result in more extensive damage: whole stems and branches supported by that scalded section of bark can die, due to disruption of the water supply due to the damage to the vascular tissue.

WHAT TO DO ABOUT SUN DAMAGED PLANTS

Is it dead or will it revive? 

If a plant was drought-stressed and has a few crunchy leaves, it may enough to cut back the damaged tissue and give it a deep drink.  If the damage is extensive – lots of dead stems with crunchy tips – you may need to cut the plant back to the ground and hope it regrows.  If you aren’t sure whether to cut or not, try bending the tips.  If they are flexible, then leave them alone – they aren’t dead!  If they snap off, they are dead and you can cut back until you reach flexible tissue.  You can also try the scratch test: scrape the bark in a small area with your fingernail or a knife.  If it is green, there is life.  If it is brown, it is dead.

If you kept your plant well-watered during the heat but nonetheless its foliage is turning white, or brown and crunchy, the best solution is to remove the damaged leaves.  If the burn is not from this heat wave, but because you recently moved your plant from shade to sun, you may want to leave the damaged foliage in place until the plant has had a chance to acclimatize.  A gradual introduction to more intense sunlight is preferred; that gives the plant time to “toughen up” the cells to tolerate more sunshine.

In either case, make sure the soil is moist.  Consider applying a dilute solution of an organic liquid fertilizer that is high in Nitrogen (like a 4-0-1 or 3-2-3 fish emulsion).  Maintain even soil moisture and you should see signs of life returning in 2 – 4 weeks. 

If after 6 weeks there is no sign of life, it could mean mean that the root system was damaged by desiccation and got too dry to regrow, or that damage to the plant tissues was too extensive to recover from.  Then it is time to visit the nursery for a replacement!

CONIFERS ARE A SPECIAL CASE

The above treatment works for perennials, grasses, and deciduous woody shrubs.  Conifers require different treatment.  Most conifers will not back-bud.  This means they will not make new growth on bare branches or the trunk.  If you cut them back, you may be removing their growing tips, and can cause permanent damage.  If your conifer has brown crunchy foliage, simply remove the dead foliage without cutting back any branches.  Give the plant a steady supply of water and see if new needles appear in the next several weeks.  If after 6 weeks, there is no sign of life, it may mean you need to visit your local nursery for a replacement plant.

Summer Garden Maintenance Tips

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Summer is peak season in our landscapes!  Gardeners and plants alike are working hard.  Get the most from your efforts and help your perennials, shrubs and trees do their best.  Follow these tips for a lush, healthy, productive landscape through the summer and beyond.

Watering

Appropriate watering is critical to keeping plants growing and healthy.  It is also important to consider our natural resources, and water as little as we can get away with while keeping our plants healthy.  The best way to do this is to not water too early.  When we water a lot at the beginning of summer we “train” our plants to be lush.  Then, when the real heat and drought stress of summer sets in, our plants have a hard-to-sustain amount of foliage.  We are forced to water like crazy to help them sustain this growth.  Cultivate more resilient plantings by being conservative with supplemental water during May and June.

To really understand how much to water, it helps to know the needs of each plant as well as what kind of soil you have.  In general, it is best to water deeply and less often, versus frequent and shallow.  Watering slowly/at a low rate, and for a longer duration of time, ensures the water soaks deeply through the root zone.  This helps roots establish in the soil horizons that stay moist and cool.  In contrast, short shallow waterings encourage plants to root only in the top few inches of soil.  This is the layer that is first to dry out in the heat of the sun.  So set the hose on a trickle, place it at the crown of your plant, set a timer for 30 minutes to a few hours depending on the size and type of plant, and address other garden tasks while your plants get a nourishing deep drink.

Established gardens need less water than new plantings.  In established beds, hopefully you can get away with watering just every couple of weeks or once per month during the summer.  Of course, this depends on what types of plants you are growing.  Not all plants are drought tolerant.  Support these plants with less-frequent deep soakings to keep them going. 

New plantings will need watering to help them through the hot dry months of summer.  In general, perennials take 1 – 2 (rainy, wet) winters to really establish in the garden.  Shrubs need 2 – 3 winters, and trees need 3 – 5.  Any plants in your garden that are younger than this will need extra water to get established.  In an ecologically ideal gardening world, we would be choosing drought-tolerant plants that fit our summer-dry climate.  But even these plants need help to get established.  Once established, it is possible to have a low-water or water-free garden!

Sandy soils do not hold water well.  Gardeners with sandy soils will need to water more often, and for shorter duration since the water will run through.  Help sandy soils hold water by adding organic material.  Compost or Soil Building Conditioner is great for this. 

Clay soils retain water, but it can hard to get the water to penetrate.  Slow and steady is best here.  Long trickle soaks are best.  A slow steady trickle allows the water to permeate the clay and soak in, rather than running off.  Add lots of organic material as well as calcium carbonate lime to help clay soils break up/form soil aggregates.  As with sandy soils, compost or Soil Building Conditioner is great for this.

Feeding

In general, spring is the best time to fertilize.  The exception to this is flowering annuals and veggies.  It is good to feed these plants through the summer to keep the production – of blooms and fruits – coming.  A liquid bloom-booster fertilizer is great.  I like to give dilute amounts with each watering (according to package instructions).  With any plant you plan to overwinter, it is best to stop fertilizing by early August to allow plants to harden off.

Weeding

It is always important to stay on top of weeding!  Eliminating weeds means that your desired plants get all the water and soil fertility resources for themselves.  Removing weeds before they set seed means fewer weeds next year! 

My three most favorite weeding tools are a hori-hori (a Japanese weeding knife), a spading fork, and a triangle hoe weeder.  The hori-hori is great for digging out tap-rooted weeds.  Spading forks are indispensable for colonizing plants like Buttercup and Sorrel that propagate from root pieces.  A fork will loosen the soil without cutting the roots, enabling you to remove the whole root mass while leaving little root system behind to propagate.  The sharp triangle hoe weeder is great for slicing annual weed seedlings off just below the soil surface.  You can also use the long point for jabbing out root masses of older more established weeds.

Mulching

Keeping soils covered with an organic mulch such as soil building conditioner or compost or woodchips is a great way to help retain soil moisture and suppress weeds.  For more information about mulching, and which products are a good fit, watch this video!

Deadheading

Keep the blooms coming all summer – deadhead!   Flowers are the reproductive organ of a plant; their job is to attract pollinators and create seeds.  Once this job is through, the plant will direct its energy to ripening the seed.  If it is flowers you want, remove fading blooms to encourage your plant to continue to bloom.  This is especially important for the flowering annuals we use for big show, like Geraniums and Petunias, etc.  But it still holds true for perennials and shrubs.

Harvesting

Like deadheading, keep harvesting all your summer veggies to keep more coming.  Remove the fruit at its peak, before the seeds inside ripen, and your plant will be signaled to keep going. 

Summer pruning

Growth vigor of trees and shrubs winds down in July and August.  This can be a great time to lightly prune plants that are prone to a vigorous, suckering response.  Trees such as Magnolia, Plum, Cherry, Apple, Crabapple, Japanese Maples, Dogwoods, Styrax (this is the short list; there are others) benefit from being thinned and shaped in summer even more than in winter.

Disease control & Insect management

Unlike gardeners, plants can’t go jump in a lake, or retreat to the hammock with a cool beverage when summer just gets to be too much.  All the hard work of summer can be hard on a plant.  This can leave them vulnerable to insects, fungus and other random ailments.  Keeping your plants mulched and watered (and fertilized if needed) is the best way to prevent issues, but sometimes help is needed.  Organic controls are always my first line of defense.  Insecticidal soap is great for most soft-bodied insect infestations such as aphids and leafhoppers and whitefly.  Sluggo is an iron-based slug repellant that is safe for cats, dogs and birds.  Organocide, a sodium bicarbonate-based spray, is great for Anthracnose, Black Spot, Powdery Mildew and other diseases.  These low-toxicity options are a great place to start.  Treat at the first sign of disease.